, 1887-10-05
A SUMMER IN EGYPT.


Delights of ExIsteucs In the land of ths
~Nile-ouick sprinGinE Crops.
Egypt in summer is commonly said TO
be an unfit residence for Europeans, but
that is a mistake, and one which would
be less prevalent, perhaps, If it were not
fostered by foreign officials, who wish to
prove that they need a three months
holiday every year. OF course, If q man
begins tho day with brandy and soda and
unlimited lemon squashes, followed up by
a heavy lunch. and then retires beneath
the mosquito curtains for a siesta until 8
o'clock, he will wake up unrefreshed. II
he then calls a carriage and is driven
about till dinner time, he will probably
only begin to feel alive about 10 O'Clock.
lie will not feel disposed to retire until
the small hours, and will waken in the
morning Us weary as when he went to
bed. This Is a matter OF course, for
which he should not blame the climate
much. Compared with Indian heat the
temperature of Egypt is refreshing; for,
however sultry the day may be, there Is
a long, cool night. The only real trial is
the length of the hot season. A couple
OF months of more intense heat would be
much easier to bear than the steady,
gentle grilling frorl May to October.
But, nfter all, an average temperature OF
90 In the daytime out of doors-which
may be reduced to 80 in the large native
rooms-sinking some 10 degrees or 10
degrees at night, does not constitute a
very formidable summer climate.
1t is interesting to study IN entirely
different Egypt from that described by
the hundred and one authors who have
undertaken. at the solicitation of their
friends, u record Of their experiences.
There is perpetual delight in watching
the slow and solid rise Of the mighty Nile,
swollen by the rains in unexplored
lands beyond the equator, roll
ing along its thousands of miles
below Khartoum without a tribu-
tary, always giving to the thirsty fields
on either side, never receiving, but
ever flowing with a daily increasing tide
truly one of the worlds greatest won
ders. Gradually it fills the canals, and,
mounting its banks, climbs softly up till
1t laps over and floods the landscape, till
as far as the eye can reach from the river
bed Egypt is one great lake. The villages
with their clusters of palms lie dotted
here and there, like tiny islands in the
sea. and the fellah has time to cross his
hands and look on with silent pleasure at
the great Nils fructifying his acres with
rich mold from the heart Of Africa.
Then as quickly or as slowly as it has
risen the river sinks, leaving stagnant
pools which the sun ticks up, and the
new layer of mud cracks into great
chasms dear to the heart Of the cultivator
and ready for the quick springing crop.
The fresh growth is almost miraculous
in its rapidity. Where one week all that
that meets tho eye is a muddy marsh
covered with waterfowl, ten days later
the lovely tender green of the young
corn or berseen is covering the land.
Then the real work of the fellah COM
mences; which is to prevent too much
water lying on his acres, and yet to supply
the requisite amount of moisture. The
pickax and shovel, the donkey and camel.
baby girl and the baby boy, all are
pressed into service. till gradually the
proper supply is obtained and the crop
springs up victorious, a homo for the
winter flight Of quail and a carefully pre-
pared hunting ground for the sportsman.
Wild duck and other aquatic fowl re-
joice In the Nile flood. and q goodly flock
of pelicans are to be found. The summer
plumage of the ~1-year-old birds is peculiar
" beautiful, the underside Of each feather
Icing OF a shell like rose color. One bird
viii give eighteen inches square of the
most lovely feathers, and O dozen skins
will make an opera cloak beautiful
enough to cause any wqman's eyes to
Glisten. Soon in lower Egypt the cotton
fields are in full bloom, o mass OF glorious
yellow Letween gold and primrose color,
whose blossoms mean money. Quickly
the color fades to the universal brown Of
the PODS, till they break out again with
the snowy fluff Of ripeness, and the cotton
crop Is ready for the picker. Probably
not one in q hundred Of visitors to tho
Nile land has ever seen a cotton field in
flower. 1t Is n Of the sights reserved
for the summer martyrs.
What the cotton pllnt is to the delta
the sugar cane b to the country between
Cairo and Assouan. The zane is laid
down in the early summer in pieces Of
about q foot long, overlapping each other
in tho long burrows. Boys then walk
along stamping down the ends, and the
earth is turned over. The process Of
taking root does not require much time,
and when once the spikes appear above
ground they shoot up almost visibly. By
the end Of August the planters work is
over, md he will tell you that there are
ulauy WOTSe pldCeS III WHICH " spSuu lLe
summer than Bibeh, Magagah or Erment.
The morning rides and the moonlit strolls
through the plantations would supply
material for sketching much less hack
neyed than mosques, pyramids and
calnels.
Whatever Europeans may feel, sum-
mer is the season the native really loves.
In the winter he goes about with his
head wrapped up In multifarious shawls,
cursing the Franks who have brought
rain md cold, and b~emoaning his own
hard lot. The few piasters he can earn
will not afford him q fire, and his house,
if he has one, is wretchedly bare. In the
summer he can sprawl about on the
ground in comfortable warmth all night
long, and a few beans in the pod or a
couple OF yards Of sugar cane and q
pumpkin give him a cheap and delicious
meal. Dust is better than mud for bare
feet, and the baking of the sur is pure
delight to the Arab born. In the town
he can have his nightly fantasies or
other open air amusements, which cost
nothing.
The beasts have their share Of enjoy.
ment from the overlooking abundance Of
TODD md the l,, ,hlaat loplrau honp,,ats